Oakland’s Bar Cesar back after brief shutdown

It was a busy and somewhat tumultuous week over at Bar Cesar on Oakland’s Piedmont Avenue.

The restaurant was shut down by the health department on Tuesday, and it reopened on Thursday.

But it wasn’t anything particularly vermin-y or unsavory that shut down the restaurant; according to partner Hal Brandel, the closure was sparked by a lack of food safety manager certificate on site. When an inspector stopped by a routine visit and couldn’t find a manager certificate, she shut the place down, says Brandel.

Chef Jason Moniz — formerly of Flora and Dona Tomas — was on a family vacation in Hawaii. His new sous chef hadn’t started yet. They are the two kitchen staffers with a food safety manager certificate; the rest of the kitchen staff carry food handler certificates. Moniz returned Wednesday night, the inspector returned Thursday morning, everyone made nice, and the restaurant reopened later that day.